A Hybrid Human-Neurorobotics Approach to Primary Intersubjectivity via Active Inference.

Primary intersubjectivity—a non-mentalist, pre-theoretical form of social understanding present in early human life—can be studied through human-robot interaction. Using active inference from the free-energy principle, the authors propose an open-source neural robotics library (NRL) and a demonstration program (VCBot) that allow people to experience embodied dyadic interaction. A case study suggests this approach can deepen understanding of social cognition and contribute to developmental psychology, educational technology, and cognitive rehabilitation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Interdisciplinary efforts from developmental psychology, phenomenology, and philosophy of mind, have studied the rudiments of social cognition and conceptualized distinct forms of intersubjective communication and interaction at human early life. Interaction theorists consider primary intersubjectivity a non-mentalist, pre-theoretical, non-conceptual sort of processes that ground a certain level of communication and understanding, and provide support to higher-level cognitive skills. We argue the study of human/neurorobot interaction consists in a unique opportunity to deepen understanding of underlying mechanisms in social cognition through synthetic modeling, while allowing to examine a second person experiential (2PP) access to intersubjectivity in embodied dyadic interaction. Concretely, we propose the study of primary intersubjectivity as a 2PP experience characterized by predictive engagement, where perception, cognition, and action are accounted for an hermeneutic circle in dyadic interaction. From our interpretation of the concept of active inference in free-energy principle theory, we propose an open-source methodology named neural robotics library (NRL) for experimental human/neurorobot interaction, wherein a demonstration program named virtual Cartesian robot (VCBot) provides an opportunity to experience the aforementioned embodied interaction to general audiences. Lastly, through a study case, we discuss some ways human-robot primary intersubjectivity can contribute to cognitive science research, such as to the fields of developmental psychology, educational technology, and cognitive rehabilitation.